“Stephan, give me a million like that boy,” said Jones of the steady runner who finished in 15 minutes and 14 seconds. “He’s fantastic and very coachable.”

Jones said Van Fossen grew in his understanding of the sport the latter half of the season.

“He has done a great job, and listened,” said Jones. “He’s accepted that a conservative start is better than going out and going crazy in the first mile.”

The Redbirds finished eighth and Jones said the team has been a pleasure.

“It’s a senior-laden team and they’ve left something to build upon,” he said.

BLEACHER BUMS: The addition of bleachers, provided by the Peoria Area Convention & Visitors Bureau and placed just behind the start line, were a big hit.

At least they were to Merle and Martha Megginson. The Jacksonville couple arrived early to watch granddaughter Jessica Meggison run for defending Class 2A state champion Springfield Sacred Heart-Griffin.

“I love it,” said Martha Meggison, who sat near the top of the stands. “With us, it’s hard to stand for two or three hours, if you get here early, so this is perfect.”

The bleachers were packed for all six races, which began at 9 a.m. and ended after 2 p.m.

HONORARY REFEREES: Rich Schneider of Peoria and Tom Higdon of East Peoria were two of the three honorary referees at the 40th annual meet at Detweiller.

“I’m just wondering if I’m retiring or if they’re moving me somewhere else, because that’s usually what happens when you get an honorary position,” joked Higdon. “Nobody else will deal with the crowds like I do, I guess.”

Higdon has worked in the setup and execution of the state meet for 22 years, the past 16 as the park manager.

“It makes it easy working with all these great people in Peoria,” Higdon said. “You have so many volunteers. It’s really a pleasure.”

The most challenging aspect of being the course manager?

“Probably the cleanup when everybody leaves,” Higdon said. “It will take my staff until Monday to get everything totally cleaned up. It’s just such a big crowd. You can have garbage cans everywhere and nobody would be able to get to every one of them.”

Schneider has been a part of the state meet for 20 years. He’s been involved in the finishing and scoring process of the race, from videotaping the finish line to transferring the results from the computer scoring programs to the various Web sites that track the event.

Page 2 of 2 - Dan Moy of Jacksonville, who has been a course umpire, finish judge, clerk, starter and meet referee as a 40-year volunteer, was also honored.